


Sore

by SilverServerError



Series: Elf Practice [11]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, they fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 01:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14945324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverServerError/pseuds/SilverServerError
Summary: Sore:adj.painful and uncomfortable because of injury, infection, or too much use





	Sore

**Author's Note:**

> I had a super rough work week. Have some vent fic.

It wasn’t the first time Brad had half glimpsed some light in the hall, but usually he rolled over and forgot by morning. But on this night in particular, a thirst just strong enough to annoy, and the beginnings of a hangover were enough to motivate a bleary stumbling to the kitchen. On his way back he found a very rumpled Taako on the couch.

 

Not all the puzzle pieces were clicking into place. He was tired and the elf was inscrutable at the best of times. But something was off.

 

And Brad was Brad.

 

“Taako?”

 

“Go back to sleep, Bradson.” He sounded tired. Distant. He was toying with his stone of farspeech, the charms drawn out and softly circling each other in little threads of light that Taako’s long fingers gently pulled at in a way that Brad couldn’t make heads or tails of.

 

“Are you all right?”

 

Taako said nothing, just waved him off dismissively. His shoulders were tight, ears drawn back the slightest bit.

 

But Brad didn’t go back to bed. He approached the couch instead, leaning over the back at a distance and watching Taako work. If he’d been more awake, he’d have picked up on the way Taako’s ears bristled the tiniest bit.

 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Brad’s normally smooth voice was uneven and groggy.

 

“I don’t sleep.”

 

Brad’s brow furrowed. Taako shouldn’t sound that clipped. Not here and not with his t-shirt half falling off the elf’s shoulder and-

 

Not his t-shirt actually. And not the one Taako had shown up in. One that must have been specifically transmuted for the purpose. Odd.

 

Wrong.

 

He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Sorry, that was insensitive. Can’t meditate?”

 

At last Taako looked back at him, ears cocked in confusion while narrowed eyes seemed to bore through him. Brad swallowed, glancing away in reflex.

 

“Yeah, I don’t meditate much either.”

 

There was no reason for such neutral words to sounds like an accusation, but there they were. Brad sighed and lowered his head to his hands, thumbs rubbing at his temples and willing the healing potion to kick in. “I could help you with that,” he offered.

 

“I think you’ve done enough, Bradley.”

 

“That’s not what it’s-”

 

“I know,” Taako snapped, voice small but hard. He clutched the stone back in his hand, the spells all going dark at once, leaving the room to the cheap yellow overheads.

 

Brad looked back up at him with a small frown, his own ears moving flat in a way that always made his glasses shift a touch precariously. Taako stared back, expression hard and challenging. If Taako were anyone else, Brad would be asking what he was actually mad about. As it was, he was finding the situation a little too delicate for comfort.

 

“Come back to bed? We can talk about it.”

 

Taako’s voice was sarcastic and unforgiving. “I’d rather not, thanks.”

 

Maybe it was the headache. Or the fatigue. But everyone had a limit.

 

“Taako have I _done_ something?” He let just the tiniest hint of anger reflect back to the elf.

 

Taako’s attention snapped to him, and he took Brad’s reaction like an invitation.

 

“You know what, Brad? I’m not in the mood for you to try and _mediate_ this away right now.”

 

Brad swallowed, a little shocked by the vitriol of the statement. He checked himself, and the tight heat rising through his gut. “Taako, if you’re feeling-”

 

“Why is it always me, huh?” Taako shifted, standing on the cushion and moving closer, making Brad look up at him for once. He looked different at this angle. Sharper. “Why do you always act like I’m the one with the fucking problem?”

 

The elf was inches away but Brad dare not touch him. “Taako, if you feel like-”

 

“You’re doing it again!” Taako almost shrieked, an anger to his eye that Brad felt like he couldn’t see him through, as much as Taako ever really let him see him. “Taako this! Taako that! Just because I’m up in the middle of the night doesn’t mean I’m upset with you!”

 

Brad clenched his jaw to keep it steady. “ _Are_ you upset with me?”

 

“Yes! But that doesn’t make it any of your fucking business!”

 

All at once, Brad stepped back, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. He let out a breath that did little to relax him. “Taako if you want, we can talk about this in the morning.” Then he turned for the hallway and the promise of his bedroom door.

 

“Where do you think you’re going!?”

 

Brad paused, a hand on wall as he turned back, looking over Taako, furious and indignant. Beautiful and mean. Hurt.

 

“I don’t really feel like trying to mediate this right now either, Taako.”


End file.
